Statements after race 1

Statements after race 1

25/09/2011
- Mugello

Pier Guidi: “The crash between Gabellino and Rangoni was a scare”

"The car handled really well and I am pleased with second place. This means that the team has done some fine work after the technical problems we had in previous races; now we are moving in the right direction. The only scare I had was when Gabellini tried an impossible move and rammed into Rangoni, who I was battling with. I really don’t know how I wasn’t caught up in the incident too. I also don’t understand what happened with the restart. After it was announced that the safety car would come on, we all thought that, sooner or later, it would appear and that we would be told when it would leave the track. As it turned out, the safety car didn’t come on. I was keeping a safe distance back from Cerqui and zig-zagging to keep the tyres warms when the green flag suddenly came out on the main straight. I didn’t expect it and was too far back on Cerqui to out-accelerate him as I was planning to do. After that, there was nothing I could do against his BMW: it was much too light for me to catch. Saying this, we said before this weekend that the technical board’s recent decision to reduce the weight of the M3 E92s by 20kg, taking it to 90kg below our Quattroporte Evos, was questionable”.

Bertolini: "From last to eighth, but then Sini spoilt it!"

Andrea Bertolini: “What happened in this race was incredible. I started from last and then mounted an amazing comeback. I was in ninth on lap three and could have gone on to finish in seventh, just behind Ferrara who I am battling with for the title. Instead, Sini was blocking my way and had just run off the track at Arrabiata 1. When he came back on, he cut me up. This forced me onto the outside and we clashed. It was inevitable and my car suffered a good bit of damage. I didn’t expect Sini to do something like that because he was much slower. I expected him to make way but I was wrong… There were misunderstandings with the Jaguar drivers all through this race: Cecchi also held me up at the start. The mechanics now face an uphill struggle to repair my car ahead of the second race. The front left suspension and dampeners are broken, as is the front splitter and hydrostatics. It will be a miracle if I manage to line up on the grid for race two”.